Bonaut, JosebaVicent Ibáñez, MireyaPaz Rebollo, María Antonia2023-11-162023-11-162023Bonaut J, Vicent-Ibáñez M, Paz-Rebollo M. A. Sports Journalists and Readers: Journalism and User Incivility. Journalism Practice. 2023 Jun: 1-18.1751-279410.1080/17512786.2023.2222730https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/88759This article assesses the impact of sports journalism style on uncivil conversations, by analyzing the news that has generated the most deleted comments and the published readers’ comments. The two sports newspapers with the largest number of readers in Spain (As and Marca) between 2019 and 2020 are compared. The analyzed journalistic pieces in both newspapers are proven to promote controversy and user participation, thus creating a polarized and strongly confronted community. Journalists lose their status as professionals by using a subjective, emotional and colloquial style, and they become mere commentators who can be discredited. This style is the breeding ground for uncivil conversations. Localized hate expressions are ideological: Spanish nationalism confronts Catalan independence in such a way that the world of football becomes dependent on the country's politics. There is no lack of negative gender stereotypes either in the predominantly male order of sport. Since no changes were observed during the pandemic, it can be established that these characteristics are part of the journalistic routine. Only the paywall introduced by As in the second half of 2020 change conversations: the number of messages, including deleted ones, was reduced, and positive feelings advanced in more rational conversations.engAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/journal articlehttps://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2023.2222730restricted access316.77316.772.5077316.775.43007Digital sports newspapersAsMarcaReader's commentsAnti-social behaviorSpainCovid 19SubscriptionInternet (Ciencias de la Información)Audiencia y difusión de los mediosCiencias SocialesCiencias de la Información5910.02 Medios de Comunicación de Masas